Thoughts of Frost
by Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh
Summary: Tooth is sure she missed something about him, but what was it? Two in-movie scenes, and an added one post-movie. Slight JackxTooth.


_**Hey there everyone, old and new readers alike. Okay, so, two ANs before the story.**_

_**For my readers: yes, I'm writing another fandom. Why? Because four days ago I saw the movie Rise of the Guardians, and really liked it. I read basically 60 fanfictions about it in the past three days, and then wrote this oneshot because I knew I wouldn't be able to write ViewingTES with this buzzing around in my mind. No worries, I'll start writing ViewingTES as soon as I can.**_

_**For new readers: hello to you, the name's Khor - as you might've noticed already. I'm usually a RWBY writer, but as I said above, I decided to write this oneshot. I'm not sure if I'll write other RotG fanfictions in the future, but we'll see.**_

_**And now, here is the story.**_

There was something she'd missed, she was sure of that. And it was something about the boy who had just walked out of the Globe Hall with North.

But… what had she missed about Jack Frost? There was much she didn't know, that was for sure, but _missed_ meant that something had been said, shown or implied, and she hadn't caught it. Surely, no one had missed how against the idea of becoming a Guardian he really was – the blast of wind and the still-melting frost patterns on the floor were pretty convincing arguments. And just as obvious was his and Bunny's enmity.

Had she missed something about his powers? No, it was hard to miss something like that when Bunny was still complaining about how he used them.

Maybe she'd missed something on what he thought of the Guardians? Again, unlikely. He didn't seem to have anything against any of them – and even with Bunny, he snapped back only after he was provoked. Though his surprise and displeasure when she'd checked his teeth might've implied that he wasn't all that fond of her – not after that, at least.

She had the decency to at least look sheepish. Looking back, maybe sticking her fingers into his mouth to get a closer look at his teeth hadn't been the best way to introduce herself, snow-sparkling or not.

And that left her stumped. If she hadn't missed all of that, what had she missed?

Oh, it wasn't like what she noticed didn't leave her confused, of course – it definitely had. To find out that Man in Moon had chosen someone who so didn't want to be a Guardian had been unexpected to say the least. Usually, he offered the position himself, instead of sending the Guardians themselves to do it. And Bunny's dislike for the winter spirit seemed a bit exaggerated, too. For all she knew, he'd gotten snow on Easter even before Jack Frost appeared – it wasn't like he summoned every single snow cloud in the world, or it'd only snow in one place at a time. She could chalk it off as personal dislike – but snow or not, Bunny was still the one who delighted himself in seeing the children hunt for his Easter eggs.

There were many things that confused her, but on top of them all she couldn't shake off the feeling that she'd missed something, something really important.

About Jack Frost.

Someone she'd heard a lot about, but never met personally until five minutes prior – and not in the best way, either.

The only one of them who had actually met him prior was Bunny, so if there was something she had to know about him, it was best to ask the Guardian of Hope.

Turning to him, she found him still sulking about the ice on the floor and the kangaroo comment. She frowned. There was something else they'd need to talk about. While she could understand dislike, having had more than an 'enemy' among spirits in the past and present still, Bunny's remarks about Jack's lack of believers had been a very low blow. Not being believed in _hurt_, they all knew that. No one liked to be reminded of that and, while it wasn't exactly a taboo, it was still an unspoken rule not to make comments about that.

For Bunny to use it so callously, and plainly meant to hurt, it meant that the hostility between the two had to be way stronger than she'd thought – even though for all she knew, Bunny only ever mentioned the Easter in '68.

She vaguely recalled that day.

It had been a huge snowstorm, hitting the Atlantic coast of the North America. Extensive damage, loads of snow, almost a hundred deaths.

She could be mistaken, but she had the inkling Jack wouldn't have created that blizzard, had he known it would've killed people. He didn't seem the type, and that was without considering his own words about how he brought fun to children. And, as much as it pained her to admit it, storms and hurricanes often took lives, with or without spirits.

So… was Bunny mad at him, only because he created a big blizzard? If that was the case, then she'd have to be mad at him for giving children so many teeth-rotting candies, or Sandy should be mad at her and North because children tried to stay awake to see the two of them.

And Bunny's words when Man in Moon had chosen Jack as Guardian didn't fit with what she knew of him, nor with Jack's own words earlier. Didn't care about children? That seemed all that he did. Playing with them, and making them have fun. True, maybe he lacked the maturity to be a Guardian – but he cared about children a lot.

He'd even refused to take on the mantle of Guardian, because he didn't want to stay away from children, despite knowing they didn't believe in him.

Wait…

Tooth forgot she wanted to scold Bunny for his behaviour.

That was what she'd missed! Guardians took their strength from children's belief in them. The less children believed, the weaker they became, until they disappeared entirely. Or, well, that's what she thought it'd happen. Never before had a Guardian died, and Man in Moon never explained it to them. But still, in the book it was said they'd disappear – which was as bad as dying.

And if Jack had so few believers Bunny called them none, then upon becoming a Guardian he'd become so weak he wouldn't be able to help them.

"Bunny…" she called out, making him look up. "Just how many believers does Jack have, exactly?"

He huffed and continued to warm his paws at the fireplace. "I told ya, none. I said that in front of everyone," he snorted, going back to stare at the flames.

"He must have someone-"

She was interrupted by his annoyed and confused expression. "None, Tooth, _zero_. Why're ya askin'?"

She didn't reply.

Zero.

Zero believers.

Jack Frost, a name that was often found on the spirits' lips whenever mischief or snow came up, the spirit who had time and again been the 'talk of the decade' due to his fun ways and the pranks he played on just about anyone… had zero believers.

She shivered at the thought of it.

But what chilled her even more was the thought of what would've happened, hadn't Jack refused so adamantly to become a Guardian. A Guardian with no believers was a dead Guardian.

She felt sick.

In hindsight, what they had tried to do, had been an unconscious murder attempt.

It had really been lucky Jack held such a grudge against Man in Moon, and was against becoming a Guardian. Most spirits would've jumped at the offer. Becoming one of the Guardians of Childhood? That was more or less any spirit's closet dream. Thankfully Jack wasn't any spirit.

Maybe Man in Moon had just meant for them to ask for his help?

She hoped so, because had they actually gone through the ceremony, Jack would be dead.

Before she could tell the others about it, however, a little tooth fairy darted into the room, frenetic, and she could tell she wasn't bringer of good news.

/-/

She was confused, and angry, and hurt. They all were. Jack's betrayal, so soon after Sandy's death, wasn't something they'd been prepared for. Not after he seemed so willing to help them – not after he seemed to dislike Pitch just as much as them. Not after he risked his life to try and save Sandy.

Had he been faking it all? Or had he taken Pitch's side only after he'd seen how powerful he was? Maybe Pitch had found him while he was out, and made him an offer too enticing to refuse?

She didn't have the answer to that question and, if she had to be honest with herself, she didn't want to find out.

It hurt too much.

She'd thought she knew Jack – to a certain level, of course. She'd thought him kind, selfless and loyal, as well as fun and charming – she wouldn't deny that: his snowy look combined with his free personality and mischievous reputation made for quite the appeal.

But this?

She'd thought she knew him… but she didn't. What he'd done went against all she knew about him. He'd betrayed them. He'd betrayed them knowing they'd become invisible and unseen. He knew how it felt like and he still helped Pitch weaken them. He'd helped Pitch destroy Easter.

As the sleight shot through the air like an arrow, the wind whipped at her face, its coldness reminding her of Jack's own chilliness when she'd touched him.

Had he wanted revenge on them?

She stilled.

That… was actually a possibility.

They had kidnapped him, quite rudely brought him to the North Pole without his permission, and tried to force him to become a Guardian without even asking him if he wanted to. And Bunny hadn't helped, either, with his remarks about being invisible. And when Pitch told him what happened to a Guardian with no believers, had he made the same connection she'd made at the North Pole? Had he thought they wanted to kill him?

They had promised him to help him get his memories but… as Pitch said, not erroneously, Jack was a neutral party. He'd just taken the quickest way to get his memories back. He'd asked Pitch for them. He'd given him Baby Tooth. He'd betrayed them all.

It was only logical.

It didn't make it hurt any less, though.

Was it even betrayal, if he'd never really been on their side?

Part of her wanted to cry. Not just because of Jack's actions, but because of their consequences. They lost Easter. The Guardians were weaker than ever, and down their strongest member, and Pitch was too strong now. They couldn't defeat him – they could only prevent him from winning completely.

Another part of her, much bigger, wanted, _needed_, something to vent her anger on. Her anger at Pitch, for killing Sandy and taking her fairies, and hurting the children, and making Jack betray them. Her anger at herself, for her state of powerlessness due to just how few children still believed despite the nightmares Pitch gave them, for not being able to do more, for not being able to remember Jack's memories and tell him outright. And last but not least, her anger at Jack, for having tricked them all, for having made them think he was on their side, only to betray them and being so obvious about it.

Her hands, clenched into fists, froze.

For the second time since she'd met Jack Frost, she'd missed something about him.

If there was one thing she could still say she knew about him, was that Jack wasn't stupid. She'd seen him being silly, even naive when he'd challenged Bunny to a race, she'd heard of him being foolhardy and foolish at times, but never stupid outright.

Yet walking up to them, after seeing how Easter was ruined because of him, without Baby Tooth, and with his memories in his hand, pretending to be innocent… that was the epitome of stupidity. If he'd really betrayed them, he would've either mocked them, or not come at all.

It was so obvious…

That they had completely missed it.

Jack had returned to try and help them after realizing he messed up. A failure, yes, but not a betrayal.

In their anger and confusion and fear, they hadn't seen what was clearly in front of them. Jack hadn't betrayed them. Sure, he had failed them, and they'd paid for that. And he'd failed to keep his word. But he hadn't betrayed them. The only way for him to get his memories would've been for him to meet Pitch. If the Boogeyman had given him his memories, and he hadn't betrayed them, it could only mean Jack had been tricked or delayed long enough for the Nightmares to attack the eggs.

She wanted to be angry at him for going even after they'd told him to remain, but the truth was that it probably wouldn't have changed much, had she gone to bring Sophie home instead. Maybe Jack would've been able to repel the Nightmares – but the tunnels were so many, would he have really been able to free all of them? And what would've happened to her? She wasn't sure Pitch would've just let her go. A Guardian less was still a Guardian less, weakened or not. She wouldn't have been able to fight him off, that much she knew. Not with how weak she was, or with how powerful he now was.

Either way… Jack would've failed. No, that wasn't right. That made it sound like he could've managed, and instead didn't. No one would've been able to fight in all the tunnels at the same time, and she doubted any of them would've been able to escape Pitch if he'd found them. In the end, they had expected too much from him – only because of his powers.

And once he came back from his failure, they'd treated him like a traitor. Like he'd wanted to fail.

_Where were you?_, had said North. But Jack wasn't even a Guardian – he'd just tagged along for his memories. Defeating Pitch was _their_ duty, not his. It wasn't fair to dump the responsibility on him and blame him for failing. They had all failed, yet he'd been the only one faulted for it.

She hadn't helped, either.

They were all confused, angry and hurt. Did that really excused them? They were the Guardians of Childhood, not some spirits chosen yesterday. They were supposed to handle Pitch on their own. They had failed to save Sandy, and now they were failing to save the children, and they'd blamed him for that.

It was true, hadn't Jack provoked that dog back at Jamie Bennet's house, Sandy's Dreamsand wouldn't have knocked three of them out, but then again Jamie and the dog had woken up only because North had made a ruckus. Jack couldn't be seen nor heard, so he couldn't be faulted for that.

It was everyone's fault.

They had just blamed Jack.

Despite him still being a 'neutral party', they had been so quick to assume he'd betrayed them. And once he failed to explain himself, they'd just given up on him. But honestly, how could he had explained himself anyway? Bunny had been against him from the very beginning, he'd made that perfectly clear. North had kidnapped him and tried to force him to become a Guardian – without any of them intervening or saying anything. And she'd accused him as soon as she saw his memories, and the lack of Baby Tooth.

He hadn't betrayed them, but what if he did now? They really hadn't earned his favour, not after how they'd blamed and antagonized him.

He'd flown away. Who could say what he would be next time they would see him. Friend or foe?

She really hoped for the former.

/-/

_'Everything is back to normal,'_ Toothiana smiled to herself as she watched her fairies work while she sat on one of the towers' ledge. After the whole accident with Pitch, she'd decided two things. One, that she'd start going out in the field again. She didn't know why she'd stopped the first time, but she wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. And two, she'd decided to teach her fairies how to handle themselves even without her, both in case of emergency, and because the other Guardians had convinced her to take breaks and relax. Even poor Sandy, who didn't have the luxury of having helpers, had insisted for her to learn how to live without working all the time.

Everything was truly back to normal.

Well, not _everything_.

For a specific fun-loving winter spirit turned Guardian of Childhood, things had changed, a lot. She'd seen herself just how much his first believer meant to him – they hadn't seen him for a week after Pitch's defeat, but they had surely heard his whoops of joy all across the North Pole. He still had very few believers compared to them, but Sandy's dreams were helping. He was getting more believers by the day. Bunny often grumbled about how he was already powerful enough to stand up to Pitch before, and how he didn't want to imagine what kind of blizzards he would be able to create once his believers went up a bit more. Another important change was his staff. While he still used it, always, he'd proved them he still had his powers without it – he was just not used to use them himself. And finally, he'd completely stolen Baby Tooth from her. The little fairy still came to visit, more often than not with Jack, but she didn't work with them any more, instead travelling around in Jack's hood. She was okay with that. She had many other fairies – it was good to see one of them getting a personality of her own.

But the newest Guardian hadn't been the only one to change. Without considering her and her newfound breaks from work, North and Bunny had changed too. Unfortunately for North, Bunny had apparently recorded him stating that Easter was more important than Christmas – how, she didn't know, and she never got a straight answer from the Guardian of Hope whenever she asked. Their Christmas vs Easter arguments had finally subsided to North commenting, Bunny bringing out the recording, North grumbling about how unfair it was and Bunny smirking victoriously.

And poor Sandy had actually begun to take some breaks as well. While it was indeed true that he delivered dreams to children, it was also true that not all nights had to bring dreams. He took a page out of Pitch's own books and created sand minions to do the work for him. Cutting down his workload a bit, he finally managed to find a way to stay awake during the meetings.

Of course, the Guardians weren't the only ones to come out of that battle stronger. Jamie and his friends had seen and fought alongside the Guardians of Childhood, and for the first time ever, Tooth wasn't sure they'd stop believing once they reached adulthood. As it was, they were the six brightest lights on the Globe. Inextinguishable. For all North's talk about belief without proof being stronger than belief with proof, the latter had the advantage of being impossible to erase. Pitch's tricks would never work on them, never again. They had made sure to visit them for a few weeks afterwards, even in broad daylight, just to make sure they didn't think of it as a dream, but they had been worrying vainly. The children knew it had been real, even if the adults explained it to them that all the lights Pitch's Nightmares had destroyed had been victim of a blackout, and that the Boogeyman and the Guardians didn't exist.

Tooth smiled before her eyes fell down to the teeth box she was holding, and her smile fell a tiny bit. Not because she was feeling any less happy, but because she felt slightly ashamed. True, it was her duty as Guardian of Memories, but specifically looking into Jack's past without his permission made her feel guilty. But her curiosity was getting the better of her, and the other three Guardians didn't help, either. Baby Tooth had told her everything she knew, but other than the knowledge that Jack had family and a sister who he saved, it didn't tell them much. Jack himself had told them something, but he never mentioned how he was chosen by Man in Moon – which was the source of the Guardians' curiosity. All of them had told him about their own mortal lives, so for him to withhold part of his felt… odd. Not bad, but odd.

It was also true that it had only been a few months, but with how transparent and sincere Jack usually was, his secret was already driving them insane. Bunny had taken up following Jack around whenever he had time, just to pester him about it – also to annoy him and get revenge for the pranks the winter spirit pulled on everyone.

Tooth had decided to take a look herself. Given who she was, it wasn't exactly breaking the rules, and if what she saw was too personal, she would just not tell anyone and do her best to forget about it. And if Jack had just been making fun of them by keeping them in the dark for months, then they'd get back at him by showing him they knew.

That, and the face Jack made when surprised was adorable.

Not like she had a crush on him, of course. Nope. Not at all. True, all her fairies literally swooned whenever he was around, some even fainting, and she herself had had more than a few moments of admiring him, like when Man in Moon chose him or right after Pitch's defeat or just about every time she saw him afterwards, but that didn't mean anything. And North's laughters, Sandy's encouragements and Bunny's teasing could all be damned for all she cared.

No, she just liked to surprise him, since he so liked to surprise others.

Still, she felt slightly guilty as she placed her hand on the teeth box. Knowing that the fairies didn't get the teeth of immortal beings, she skipped straight to Jack's last mortal memory. While she would've loved to see him as a child, she didn't want to go too far.

When she had been still starting out, skimming through the memories had been a hard and tiring task. Now, it was second nature. Especially finding the first or last one, those were pieces of cake – without the teeth-rotting problems that came with them, of course.

The teeth box began to glow gold as the memory began to play.

_"It's okay. It's okay."_

_Jack's voice was the first thing she heard as the light subsided. She looked around. They were on a lake… the lake near Burgess, the one always frozen. The trees and the grass around it were covered in a thick layer of snow, but judging by how light Jack's clothes seemed to be, either he didn't feel the cold when he was mortal too, or it wasn't as cold as it seemed. Tooth turned, and she was met with the sight of the younger sister Jack told them about. She was wearing skates, while Jack had removed his own and was barefoot on the ice, and a circle of cracks spread around her._

_Tooth felt her heart quicken up. The ice was too thin to hold her._

_But… Baby Tooth had mentioned Jack saving her… she forced herself to calm down. That was far from the first sad memory she saw, but with it being Jack's, it took her more effort than she'd like to admit to calm down._

_"Don't look down, just…" Jack's voice continued, and Tooth turned to see him kneeling down. "…look at me."_

_"Jack… I'm scared." Tooth could understand the girl. The ice was breaking even further – it could give out at any second._

_"I know, I know, but… you're gonna be alright." Jack stood a bit straighter and took a step forwards, wincing when the ice cracked. Tooth's heart sank. The ice was too thin. He couldn't reach his sister like that. "You're not gonna fall in. Uh… we're gonna have a little fun instead!"_

_Jack's mouth was smiling, but Tooth could see it in his eyes, he was terrified._

_"No, we're not!"_

_"Would I trick you?"_

_In hindsight, not the best thing to say._

_"Yes! You always play tricks!"_

_"O-Oh… uh… a-alright, not- not- not this time." Tooth's heart cracked alongside Jack's voice. She'd never seen him like that, and for a good reason. Hadn't she known already that he'd save his sister, she'd be having a breakdown. "I- I promise. I promise, you're gonna be- you're gonna be fine."_

_"You have to believe in me."_

_Tooth felt her heart ache. Even as a mortal, Jack didn't seem to get the belief he was asking for. His sister's breathing was coming in scared pants, and she stayed silent._

_"You wanna play a game? We can play hopscotch, like we play every day!" Finally, the girl began to smile. "It's as easy as… one…" Jack stepped to the side, and the ice cracked. Badly. He winced, and pretended not to have heard it. Instead, he exaggerated losing his balance, making the girl laugh, before taking a second step. "Two…" This time, the ice didn't crack, signalling it was solid enough. Jack jumped to the side, landing near a stick… no, not just a stick. His staff, the one he used as Jack Frost. "Three!"_

_He knelt and his hand curled around the wood. Tooth was barely breathing. The memory was coming to an end, she was sure of it._

_"Alright… now it's your turn. One." The girl took a step, and the ice cracked even more, making her gasp. "That's it, that's it," Jack continued to encourage her. Tooth had rarely seen him so focused. He wasn't even blinking. "Two…" A second step, even more cracks appearing in the ice. "Three!"_

_Jack lunged. He hooked the staff around the girl's waist and pulled, losing his balance and sliding forwards as the girl slid over the safe ice. He sat up to look at her just as she looked up, and smiled. Tooth finally allowed herself to breathe again. He'd done it. He'd saved her._

_Jack stood up and chuckled in relief._

_Then the ice gave away. The girl called his name. Tooth didn't even have time to gasp before she was dragged underwater with him._

_However, she had more than enough time to watch in horror as Jack sank in the icy water, his eyes closing and his breath stilling. She had more than enough to watch as the cold and the lack of air got the better of him. She had more time than she'd ever wanted to see the life leaving his body._

_She wanted to step back. To turn and run. She found out she couldn't._

_Jack Frost, the ever-cheerful winter spirit all the Guardians had come to be fond of, and in her case even more so, had died, drowned in the very lake he so loved._

_A shiver went through her. Now she had an idea why he always kept it frozen solid._

_The Moon was shining. Under her eyes, Jack's lifeless body began to float back to the surface, his hair turning snow white and his skin paling. His eyes snapped open, now icy blue, and the memory ended with a flash of light._

Tooth gasped and dropped the teeth box, something she had _never_ done before. Her cheeks were wet, but the tears she felt running from her eyes weren't warm, but cold as ice. She was shivering.

Jack had died. He'd been chosen after his death.

He didn't visit his lake because it was his home… he visited it because it was his grave.

The shivers grew stronger, and it wasn't because of cold. She wrapped her arms around her midsection, but it didn't seem to stop them.

He was always so cheerful…

He had died, and then he had to spend three centuries alone and unseen.

_It's like you don't even exist_.

In hindsight, Bunny's words were even harsher than she'd initially thought.

She was still shivering, but she still got up. Glancing down at the teeth box, she reached down to grab it, but she stopped just shy of touching it. Her hand began to tremble. The shivers got worse. She didn't try to take it again, not before she could calm down from what she'd seen.

It was far from the first death she'd seen, but it was Jack's, and that made it a million times worse.

_He… he sees me… he sees me._

Jack had been able to say only those three words for hours after the battle with Pitch. Tooth knew who he was referring to. She just wished… in a very selfish, un-Guardian-like way, that they'd been with him at the time, and not somewhere else, thinking he had betrayed them. She'd wished _she_ had been with him to see his joy.

She lifted herself off the ledge. She had to find him.

/-/

Jack Frost laughed freely as he watched Burgess slowly whitening with snow. Jamie would be in for a good surprise once he woke up. True, the summer spirit would probably not be happy about the mid-July snowfall, but after Jack became known as one of the heroes against Pitch Black, who would come to tell him what he could or could not do? Especially since Jamie had been the one to wish not to go to the summer school camp, and he was another hero of said battle. The summer spirit could go sulk at the Hawaii if heat was really all that important.

The snow was heavy, but Jack decided against wind. Better to leave the clouds over the town for a while and let the snow fall calmly.

And if some children began to believe in Jack Frost due to an unexpected summertime snowstorm? Even better.

As he hovered in mid-air, Jack was seriously tempted to swoop down and knock at Jamie's window just to drop by and talk, but he decided against it. The boy needed to sleep, after all, or he wouldn't have enough energies to go out and play in the snow the next day.

"Jack!"

A shout was all the warning he got before something, or rather someone, slammed into him with the force of a train at full speed. Given the shape of whatever hit him, it wasn't North's sleight. Sandy flew slowly -and couldn't talk- and Bunny couldn't fly, so that left only one person who could both fly and could see him.

He returned the hug with a smile. "Hey Tooth, how're you? Never thought I'd see the day you actually get a break without anyone having to drag you out."

Baby Tooth twittered happily from his shoulder, making the fairy look up and smiled at the both of them. "Hey Jack. I just wanted to see you… two. You and Baby Tooth." She glanced away for a fraction of a second before smiling again. "Hi Baby Tooth. You're getting lazy, always on his shoulder. Do you even know how to fly any more?"

The tiny fairy let out an indignant chirp and took off in a second, buzzing around the two of them as a show that she did not, in fact, forget how to fly, but she just preferred the easiest way of travel – which was by Jack's hood.

"But seriously, is everything okay?" Jack asked, looking at her. "You really never take a break if there's no one to drag you out of the Tooth Palace."

Releasing him, Tooth glanced to the side, avoiding his eyes. "I'm fine. Just got some news, and… well, I thought I'd let you know about them." She raised an eyebrow at the snow. "But… isn't it July?"

"Yes, yes it is, but Jamie complained about the summer camp, so I sent a bit of snow to make the children have fun," shrugged Jack, smiling down at his handiwork. "Okay, maybe more than a bit, but in my defence you distracted me," he added sheepishly, staring at the snow that layered the town, now at least a foot in height. He'd meant for only a few inches of snow, but well, who didn't like a solid mantle instead of just a few sprinkles? He shook his head and smiled at her. "But anyway, what are those news?"

She bit her lip and looked away, something that wasn't missed by the winter spirit. She knew she couldn't lie to him, not about something that regarded him, not about something so important. With a sigh, she gathered her courage and looked at him. "I looked at your memories."

He blinked. "Oh." Then his surprised look morphed into a sad smile and he hugged her again. "Sorry you had to see that."

He was cold to the touch, but she didn't mind it. Pushing herself off his chest just a bit, she stared at him. "You're not mad I did?"

He shrugged. "I mean, it's not like it's a secret or something, I just knew you guys would be sad at hearing I've died, and that'd go against my centre, wouldn't it?" He smiled at her. He always had a smile ready, for her, for the Guardians, for anyone. "I'm not mad. I just didn't want you guys to be upset. It's in the past, it's not like I can change it or anything, and even if I could, I'd probably do it all over again, so what's the point of making you sad about it?"

Of course.

She wanted to smack herself, and smack him too. Of course he wouldn't be mad. But still…

"I think you should tell the others," she told him sternly.

To her surprise, he grinned. "And ruin all the fun? Nah. I mean, come on… look!" He pointed down, and she followed his staff to see a grey figure advancing in the snow. "It's a month Bunny stubbornly follows me around in the snow to ask me. If I told them, I wouldn't be able to call him Easter Yeti any more."

Tooth laughed. No, that'd go against Jack's centre alright. Well, she supposed she could allow him to have his fun for a while more – and then she'd have to save him from Bunny once the truth came out.

As long as he kept smiling like that, she was fine with it.

**_Yes, I do ship Jack and Tooth. I mean, Jack and Bunny have a love/hate relationship I usually like in ships, but their particular relationship is too similar to the one I have with my brother and sister, and that makes it weird for me to see them together like that. Pity, because it'd be hilarious. Oh well._**

**_I got this idea watching the movie. I know it's basically a plothole, a filler, and an added scene, but I felt like it had to be added. Especially the appearance of this mysterious Easter Yeti... poor Bunny._**

**_The first part reflects some of my thoughts about Jack's first meeting with the Guardians. Bunny especially seems to be way too harsh with him, despite Jack being quite calm until provoked. And yeah, kidnapping someone isn't the best way to make them friends..._**

**_Anyway, I'm rambling. If you read my other stories, you'll know I often ramble, so it's better to cut this short._**

**_Until next time,_**

**_Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh_**


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